Color trends come and go, but blue-and-white remains a timeless design combination.
For centuries the soul-soothing, easy-on-the-eyes partnership we find in nature has inspired people to create porcelain, paint, fabric, wallpaper and rugs that bring blue-and-white indoors.
Ancient blue-and-white Chinese porcelains, long the envy of collectors, are still copied today. French-country style stays comfortably chic with blue and white gingham and toile. Grandmother’s collection of English Blue Willow tableware still sets an inviting Thanksgiving table.
Shirley Hill of the Changing Look reported a resurgence of the blue-and-white combination at the recent furniture market in High Point, N.C. Among the items were Thibaut wallpapers and HGTV designer Genevieve Gorder’s globally inspired update on the classic theme: an ikat rug with bright blue chevrons on a pure white background.
Paint companies offer seemingly endless shades of both blue and white. Blues run from deep ocean navy to aqua to pale sky, and whites from gleaming snow to sand to soft cream. They can be paired to create every mood, from dark and mysterious to light and airy, and any style, whether contemporary, country or coastal.
Hill says the color combination works in most any setting.
“It’s classic. It’s welcoming. It’s calming. It’s nostalgic. And I think it’s addictive,” says the designer, whose blue-and-white collections include Imari porcelain, flow blue and Royal Copenhagen china, and vintage marbled graniteware.
It’s easy to introduce the color scheme into a home.
Ease into a blue-and-white décor with a bold sapphire club chair contained with crisp, white welting. Or update an antique sofa with casual blue and white stripes. Hill goes for the unexpected by using a blue-and-white ceramic garden stool as a shower seat.
Touches of cobalt can be repeated in kitchen island lights and stemware displayed in white cabinets.
Play it safe with a few botanical, graphic or tribal-pattern accents. Slip a piece of graphic blue-and-white wallpaper beneath the glass of a coffee table. Cluster blue-and-white ginger jars on a front hall chest. Or group blue-and-white porcelain plates as wall art.
Make quiet or bold statements with paint. Add robin’s egg blue to the back of a cabinet to show off white tableware.
The fearless may wash dining room walls in glossy indigo and heighten the drama with white chairs and candles.
Broad blue-and-white-striped wallpaper can anchor a nautical theme in a bedroom. White bedding against a sky-blue headboard creates a softer touch.
All shades of blue and white blend easily, so cobalt and turquoise pillows can go on a denim couch. Or mix shades in a glass tile back splash.
The combo also blends well with other color schemes, including yellow, coral, red and brown. Hill’s choice: blue and white with watermelon.
kathy.huber@chron.com
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